False alarm reduction during landmine detection

Quadrupole Resonance sensors have the unique capability of detecting explosives from buried, plastic-cased antipersonnel and antitank landmines. The chemical specificity of this radio-frequency technique provides the potential to deliver remarkably low false alarm rates during landmine detection. This is of particular importance to deminers, who frequently come across numerous clutter items before uncovering a mine. Quadrupole Resonance is typically utilized in a confirmation mode; preceded by rapid primary scans carried out by, for example, metal detectors, ground penetrating radars or a fusion of these. Significant technical and scientific advances have resulted in the fabrication of handheld and vehicle mounted Quadrupole Resonance landmine detectors in compact, power-efficient configurations. The development work is focused on baseline sensitivity increase, as well as the achievement of high detection performance under field conditions. The mine detection capability of Quadrupole Resonance detectors has been evaluated during various blind tests. A modular handheld unit, combining primary and confirmation sensors, was designed to be operated by a single person. A series of field tests demonstrate the unique capability of Quadrupole Resonance for significant false alarm reduction.